Unworthy
by Rippeyshadow
Summary: Born to the savior of the clans, and a Fallen starclan warrior, Ravenkit was born with a legacy to maintain. What he doesnt know is that Starclan has something very different planned for him. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One, sorry that it's written like you should know all of the cats. There was a story before this, but I'm not going to post it because its very confusing if you hadnt read the story before that one. (this is technically the third story.)**

**The cats that are very important in the previous stories are Rippedclaw (main character in the first story), Dapplestar, (main character in the second story), and cougarstar (evil Dark Forest cat who is gone now, but will be mentioned a lot in the story)**

**I will be posting the cat's info in the next chapter. Toodles!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the warriors series. But I do own the characters in this story except for Shadowstar, Riverstar, Windstar, and Thunderstar.**

Ravenkit sat completely still and looked up at his mother in awe as she told the story of how his father had saved all the clans. It was a story that he had heard before, but every time he heard it it changed ever so slightly, making it more and more magical. Shimmerkit, Hailkit, and Rosekit sat around him. They were the older kits in the nursery, four moons older than him. Shadow-eye, their mother, lay sprawled out on the ground, watching Ravenkit's mother with a tired, yet fascinated look on her face.

"Then Cougarstar's claws came towards Oceanmist, but he was ready for it. He jumped and gave him the final blow that ended the entire battle. If it weren't for him, then my father wouldn't have been able to save me and I wouldn't be here right now, and nobody else would either." Lillypetal trailed off and then smiled, immersed in her memories.

Ravenkit laughed out loud and jumped up in the air. "I'm gonna be just like my daddy when I grow up!" He exclaimed. Lillypetal looked down at her son lovingly while shadow-eye chuckled and curled up in to a ball tiredly.

The largest of Shadow-eye's kits, Hailkit, laughed and said, "Yeah right, like you're ever going to amount to anything. You weren't even his favorite kitten, you didn't even know him!" Rosekit and Shimmerkit giggled.

Ravenkit smiled at the older kits and said in a friendly tone, "Oh come on Hailkit, I'm an only kit, remember? I don't have any other siblings that could possibly be 'better' than me." At that moment Quailfeather's head popped in to the nursery, she gestured for Lillypetal to follow her out. Ravenkit's mother stood up and left the den, stepping gingerly over Rosekit, who happened to be standing in front of the entrance.

Hailkit scoffed, mildly annoyed, "I was his favorite kitten, he told me many times. He said I would always be his favorite kitten, and I still am since he died before anyone even knew you existed…" Shimmerkit fell over and rolled on the ground, laughing hysterically. Rosekit's attention quickly switched from Hailkit's joke, to her sister who was— by now —about to pass out from laughter.

Ravenkit's ears drooped sadly and he looked down at the ground in disappointment. Hailkit stopped laughing and let his ears droop as well as he apologized, "Sorry Ravenkit, I didn't think it would make you sad."

Ravenkit kept staring down at the ground sadly, his amber eyes were fixed on the mossy ground. Shadow-eye let out a soft snore and covered her face with her paw. Shimmerkit rolled her eyes and said to Hailkit, "Its not your fault that he's a cry baby!" Rosekit smiled at her sister happily.

Hailkit snickered but said nothing. Ravenkit straightened up and replied angrily, "I'm not a cry baby! You are!" Shimmerkit gasped and looked at her brother expectantly. Hailkit stood up and walked over to Ravenkit until he was standing over him, looking down at the younger kit threateningly. Ravenkit stood his ground and looked up at Hailkit.

"Come on baby, attack me." He challenged.

Ravenkit looked up at him in confusion and asked, "Why?"

Hailkit laughed and then dropped in to a hunter's crouch and said in an almost playful voice, "To see who's a better fighter, of course!"

Again, Ravenkit was confused, but he said nothing for fear of being yelled at again. He hated it when other cats were mad at him, it made him feel like mouse dung. _Why would I fight him? He's part of my clan… _Ravenkit thought.

Hailkit sat down and rolled his eyes, "We're not actually fighting. it's a play fight, for fun." Ravenkit stared at him for a few more seconds and then shook his head. _How is fighting fun? I don't get it. _He thought.

Then Hailkit realized that it was completely pointless to try to reason with the one moon old kit, so he and Rosekit left poor Ravenkit alone in the nursery. After a few seconds of trying to occupy himself he quickly gave up and left the den in search of something to do.

It had been seven moons since the great battle between Starclan and the Dark Forest. So many things had changed, but Ravenkit didn't notice anything. He had been born in the new place. It was the same for Shadow-eye's kits, although they wouldn't admit it.

The most obvious change was that they had moved their camp to escape from the deadly sickness that had taken over the medicine cat's den. The camp was now closer to the Windclan border instead of the Thunderclan border. The announcements were held at a different tree, it was about the same size as the old star tree, but there was no hollow in the tree, so Dapplestar slept in a nest that the clan had created in the twisted roots of the tree.

The camp was a lot smaller than the old camp, and the dens were much more cramped. The warriors den was underneath a very tall pine tree that gave excellent cover during the winter, the nursery was in an abandoned fox hole right next to it. The apprentices and elders den were both located on either side of a very wide, thorny bush. The medicine cat's den wasn't much of a den, but an open spot between three large boulders that the clan had pushed together.

Ravenkit sat down in the middle of the camp and watched the rest of the cats curiously. Dapplestar was laying on her back in her nest, with her paws laid gently on her stomach. Goldenheart was telling Quailfeather, Darksun, and Diamondshine to go on the dusk patrol with him. Rootcloud was arguing with Lunarleaf over who was taller, typical adults. While Shimmerkit, Hailkit, and Rosekit threw a moss ball back and forth on top of the medicine boulders.

Ravenkit frowned in annoyance and walked back in to the Nursery and curled up in to a lonely little ball about a tail length away from Shadow-eye. As he was going to sleep he thought, _I wish my mother was here right now, she's the only one that cares about me._


	2. Characters

Shadowclan cats:

Dapplestar- warrior 20 months old female, calico with blue eyes  
>Darksun- warrior 20 months old male, dark grey with brown eyes<br>Shadow-eye- queen 22 months old female, tan with grey paws and ears and green eyes  
>Goldenheart- warrior 20 moons old male, golden-yellow with green eyes<p>

Lunarleaf- warrior, 21 moons old male, Dark brown-and-black tabby with blue eyes

Diamondshine- apprentice, 18 moons old female, silver with grey eyes

Quailfeather- apprentice, 13 moons old female, orange cat with amber eyes

Rootcloud- medicine cat, 20 moons old brown and tan tom with amber eyes

Lillypetal- queen, 21 moons old silver she-cat with green eyes

Hailkit- kit, 5 moons old charcoal tom with silver underbelly, white paws, and icy blue eyes

Shimmerkit- kit, 5 moons old cream colored she-cat with green eyes and she looks like she's wearing brown eye shadow, like her mother

Rosekit- kit, 5 moons old ginger she-cat with amber eyes

Ravenkit- kit, 1 moon old Silver tabby tom with soft brown eyes

Starclan cats

Rippedclaw- jet black she-cat with red underbelly and forest green eyes, one of the nine main Shadowclan leaders

Sparrowfeather- fluffy red tom with striking amber eyes

Rippleshade (mysterious starry cat)- charcoal she-cat with black tick marks all over her body, blue eyes


	3. Chapter 2

**Here ya go guys, this took a lot of work to post. I couldnt figure out how to post it the way it was so I ended up having to save it to another new document and... you dont care.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

Chapter Two

Dapplestar laid down in her nest and stared up at starry sky. She just couldn't seem to fall asleep, there were too many things going through her mind at the moment. Winter was coming, she could feel it in the air. This would be her first winter as the leader of Shadowclan, if the clan starved this winter, then it would be her fault. If too many cats got sick, it would be her fault. If they lose territory to another clan, it would be her fault. _I wish I was just a warrior again, or an apprentice, or a kit. I would have no responsibility, nothing to worry about. Everything would be great… _She thought wistfully.

She watched jealously as her mate and brother walked back in to the camp, talking with each other about the most trivial things. Her eyes finally met with Lunarleaf's and he walked over to her worriedly. "What's wrong, Dapplestar?" he asked her as he fell down on the ground beside her and scooted closer.

She hissed under her breath in annoyance and sat up, turning away from him. "Please don't call me that." she pleaded without looking back at him. Lunarleaf frowned and rolled on to his side in order to see her better.

"Why? That's your name…" he said, obviously confused.

"I don't want to be the leader anymore, its too stressful." she said truthfully, then finished, "I just wish, for one day, that I could just be a normal warrior again."

Lunarleaf smiled and stood up quickly and said, "Well, I'm an expert at being a normal warrior. Come hunting with me, it'll be just like the old days."

Dapplestar turned around and looked at her mate happily, then her eyes clouded with worry and she asked, "I don't know, what if something bad happens while I'm gone?"

He rolled his eyes and began walking towards the camp entrance, "Don't worry about it, Goldenheart'll be here." he said, to Dapplestar, then turned to Goldenheart who was guarding the camp entrance. "Can you watch the camp while we're gone?" he asked and then whispered something in to the Deputy's ear, Goldenheart smiled and nodded.

After another moment of hesitation Dapplestar got up out of her nest, stretched her legs, and ran out of the camp after Lunarleaf. "Where are we going hunting?" she asked excitedly.

Lunarleaf looked back at her and slowed down to a leisurely walk. "Right here's fine." he said calmly. Dapplestar took a deep breath of air, she could smell vole not very far away. Dropping in to a hunting crouch, she slowly crept towards the scent. After only a few steps she could make out its furry body. She took a step closer and then Lunarleaf's paw suddenly pushed her tail down just a little bit.

"Keep your tail down." he whispered, as if she were his apprentice again. She pounced and killed it with a quick bite to the neck, then picked it up proudly. She walked back to Lunarleaf and set it down at his paws.

"I'm not your apprentice anymore, remember?" she said and then laughed. Lunarleaf laughed too, finally picking up his mistake. Dapplestar began to bury the vole but then her mate pulled it out of its hole playfully.

"Lets just eat it here. We aren't on a real hunting patrol, so it isn't against the warrior code." he explained. Dapplestar sat down and shuffled her paws nervously.

"I don't know… Leaf bare is coming soon and we cant waste any more prey. It wouldn't feel right." she said worriedly.

Lunarleaf scoffed in disappointment and said, "What are we gonna do, bring it back to camp and eat it there? Come on Dapplesta— Dapplesong." She nodded and chuckled at herself.

She smiled, giving in to his reasoning and took a quick bite of the vole. Then she pushed it over to Lunarleaf. "So how's prey been going lately? I haven't had time to get out in a while." she asked nonchalantly.

Lunarleaf answered, "Its fine, the squirrels are starting to go to their dens for the winter though, but I don't see how this year will be any worse than last year." She could tell that he was trying to reassure her. There was a moment of silence and then he took a bite of the vole.

Her shoulders sagged ever so slightly and she pointed out, "Yes, but last year we had twice as many cats, and they actually knew what they were doing."

Finally, Lunarleaf noticed that he had lost the argument. He stood up and smiled at her deviously, obviously wanting to change the subject. "Follow me, I want to show you something I've never shown anyone else before." he said and then promptly walked away, expecting her to follow. She got up and rushed after him, leaving the half eaten vole on the ground.

He lead her to the edge of the forest and stared out at the thunder path ahead. On the other side of the thunder path was a row of twoleg nests. He flicked his tail to a white twoleg nest that was directly ahead of them. "That's where I was born, nobody thinks that I remember. But I do. I think my kitty pet name was Twitches or something like that." He said wistfully.

Suddenly a middle aged cat jumped up on the fence surrounding the nest. She glanced out at the forest briefly and then jumped back down on the ground and returned to the twoleg nest. "Is that your mom?" Dapplestar asked curiously. This was all very new to her. All she really knew about her mate was that he wasn't originally from Shadowclan. She didn't know that he used to be a kitty pet.

He shrugged, trying to act as if he didn't care, "Well she looks familiar, but I don't know." he said and then added, "She comes out and looks in to the forest every day."

"You should go talk to her." Dapplestar urged.

He shook his head quickly and said, "Well she's gone now."

Suddenly, Dapplestar felt a droplet of water land on her shoulder. Then another one landed on her head, and another, and another. Lunarleaf looked up at the sky and started laughing. "Its raining! Lets get back in to the forest." he said and then dashed away.

Dapplestar chuckled and chased him. They ran through the forest towards the camp until the soft rain turned to a downpour. Dapplestar dove for the safety of a hollowed out tree. Lunarleaf followed her shortly after. Dapplestar shook some of the water out of her fur, sat down, and burst out laughing. Lunarleaf's thick fur was soaked to the bone. "I guess we'll have to stay here until it stops raining." Lunarleaf said and then curled up in to a ball to go to sleep.

"What are you doing?" Dapplestar asked.

"Well, the rain isn't gonna stop any time soon. We might as well sleep here tonight." he said tiredly. Dapplestar silently agreed, she laid down beside him and slowly but surely fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Ravenkit sat up quickly, _What was that sound? _He thought and looked around wildly. He could have sworn that he heard something coming from outside. Maybe a paw step, or a stray mouse. Then he heard it again and he stood up.

He slowly walked out of the Nursery and looked around. He saw two starry cats walking around the clearing, in and out of the dens as if they owned the place. Ravenkit had never seen these cats before, they definitely weren't from Shadowclan.

There was a Jet black tom with grey eyes, he was large and heavily built, with his muscles rippling under his short fur. The other cat was a slender she-cat with dark grey fur and black tick marks all over her body and deep blue eyes. His first idea was to yell for help, but then he paused. _What would Hailkit think if he found out that I fought off two rogue warriors single pawed? He would never doubt me ever again! _Ravenkit thought excitedly.

He decided to take on the easier cat first. He stormed up to the grey she-cat and glared up at her angrily. He looked up at her and glared, his claws quickly sliding out. She looked down at him in shock. Slowly but surely the other cat made his way over to them.

"Do you think he can see us?" the she-cat asked, staring down at Ravenkit curiously.

"Of course he can, he's staring right at you!" the tom said and chuckled at her. She glared at him in annoyance and rolled her eyes. Ravenkit couldn't believe it, how dare these cats just prance in to Shadowclan camp and talk about him as if he wasn't even there?

"Stop talking about me! I can hear you, I'm not deaf." Ravenkit hissed. The she cat's face changed from a look of curiosity straight over to shock. But Ravenkit saw another emotion cross her face, she was impressed.

Ravenkit's back arched, his fur fluffed up and he hissed again, trying to look scary. "Calm down, Ravenkit. We are from Starclan. We're just coming to visit our warriors." the she cat said, her voice was like honey. Then she added, "If you can see us so easily, you might have to get used to seeing Starclan cats all the time. We visit a lot."

He froze and stared at her uncertainly. Then he bowed his head in respect to both of the Starclan cats. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. I thought you were rogues… May I ask what your names are? I've never seen either of you before." the kit said.

The she cat smiled warmly and said, "Sure, I'm Silkfur and this is-"

She was cut off by the tom who said, "I'm Blackwater. I was Shadowstar's third deputy." Ravenkit's eyes widened in awe and he bowed down to Blackwater. He must be a very important Starclan cat if he was the deputy of Shadowclan's first leader.

Silkfur laughed and poked Ravenkit's bowed head, "Don't worry, Ravenkit. You don't need to bow to him, you'll just give him what he wants." she said playfully. Blackwater chuckled at her but said nothing.

Ravenkit got up, embarrassed. _I guess I won't be telling Hailkit about this, I doubt he'd be impressed. _he decided. Silkfur smiled and said, "Well, we have to go. Maybe our paths will cross again some day, Ravenkit." With that, Silkfur cuffed Ravenkit on the ear playfully and disappeared along with Blackwater.

Ravenkit stayed frozen there for a second, taking in everything. After a few minutes he slowly stood up and crept back to the nursery to go to sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"I want to be his guardian." Silkfur said to Shadowstar, looking up at her with a steady gaze. Rippedclaw was standing beside Shadowstar, the fur on the back of her neck rising angrily.

"No, I asked before you did. He's my grandson, I should be able to be his guardian." she argued and then looked up at Shadowstar, smiling politely. Silkfur growled in frustration and clawed at the muddy ground.

Shadowstar shook her head and said, "No, neither of you can be his guardian. You both have had a cat to watch over. Rippedclaw, yours is still alive! You can't watch over two living cats, it just doesn't happen. And Silkfur, we all know how badly your cat turned out."

Silkfur winced at the memories. "Please don't remind me. I can do better this time, I swear I can." she said and then finished, "He's not my son this time. I won't be as close to him. I won't let my emotions get in the way of fulfilling his destiny."

"You can't promise that." Rippedclaw hissed.

Shadowstar flashed a quick glare at Rippedclaw and then said, "Silkfur, I already said no. And that goes for you too, Rippedclaw."

Rippedclaw hissed angrily and asked, barely able to hold back her claws, "Who else has offered to watch over him?"

Shadowstar didn't like being argued with, she unsheathed her claws and dug them in to the ground madly. She said, "Well… Nobody, but-"

She was cut off by Rippedclaw again, "Ravenkit won't last long without a guardian. He's a weak and overly emotional kit, he can't survive without our help. I know this for a fact, I've been watching him for a long time." she said and glared at Silkfur accusingly.

"I will find a guardian for him. Until then, I forbid either of you to meet with him, I can't let you getting any ideas." Shadowstar ordered and then left the hollow.

Silkfur sighed inwardly and then looked over at Rippedclaw. She was smiling ever so slightly. "You aren't going to listen to her, are you?" Silkfur asked.

Rippedclaw looked back at the worried Starclan cat. "Come on, Silkfur. When have I ever listened to my leader?" She said, and with that, she walked out of the hollow, her tail flicking back and forth in satisfaction.

Silkfur stood there for a few more seconds. Then she let her head droop down and she slunk away, back to the Shadowclan part of the camp. She slowly dragged herself over to the fresh kill pile and plopped herself down on the ground sadly.

Shadowclan tom cat named Coalflame walked over to her and sat down right next to her. "Hey baby sister. You look sad." he said worriedly and wrapped his tail around her back.

he smiled tiredly and leaned her head up against her brother's shoulder for comfort. "Rippedclaw thinks she's better than me and its just ticking me off." she complained and dug her claws in to the ground.

Coalflame raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, "Rippedclaw? I always thought of her as a very down-to-earth type of cat. She was that young apprentice that tried to save me when the camp started on fire, you know."

"I know, brother. But she actually respects you. She knew you as an elder from when she was an apprentice. When she looks at me, she probably just sees some skinny little Shadowclan she-cat from before her time." She said and looked down at her beautiful slender form in disgust.

Coalflame frowned, annoyed. "So what happened this time?" He asked.

Silkfur rolled her eyes and answered, "I want to be Ravenkit's guardian, but Rippedclaw suddenly wants to be her guardian too."

Coalflame laughed and said, "She's not out to get you, Silkfur. Just work hard for him, and don't take no for an answer and Shadowstar wont be able to say no to you."

Silkfur smiled and said with a hint of determination in her voice, "Okay, I will."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Ravenkit slowly crept up towards Hailpaw, an angry glint in his small eyes. Hailpaw had stolen his mouse one too many times. Hailpaw was laughing and talking with Rosepaw and Shimmerpaw. Shimmerpaw shot a quick glance at Ravenkit and then burst out laughing. Rosepaw glared at her sister and then gave him a sympathetic stare. Both of them knew what was about to happen.

Hailpaw's ears perked up. Before Ravenkit could turn tail and run for his life, Hailpaw was on top of him. His long claws dug deep in to Ravenkit's fur, threatening to pierce his skin.

"And what were you thinking, kit?" he asked, his breath was hot in Ravenkit's face.

"N-nothing! I wasn't gonna do anything!" Ravenkit pleaded fearfully. He looked around for his mother so that she could save him, as she always did. Instead, a starry cat appeared beside him. She was a jet black she-cat with a red underbelly, and a plethora of ugly scars.

He squealed in fear and tried to roll away from her and Hailpaw. To him, they were both equally dangerous. "Stop fidgeting, kitten. Nobody can see me but you, Lillypetal, and Dapplestar, but obviously neither of them are here right now." the cat said. She paused for a second and then exclaimed, "Will you calm down? I'm Rippedclaw, I'm your grandmother. Starclan er… sent me to help you."

"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice and his entire body was quivering in terror. Why did he keep seeing these Starclan cats? What did they want with him?

"Who are you talking to, kit?" Hailpaw asked and laughed, adding, "Look Shimmerpaw, Rosepaw, he's talking to himself!"

Ravenkit ignored him and stared at Rippedclaw, waiting for her to answer. She hissed and yelled. "Kick him off! I'm here to help you win this fight, I already told you that. And please, say what you want to tell me in your head. Cats will start thinking you're completely insane if you keep talking to me like that."

Hailpaw laughed when Ravenkit ignored him and stared off in to the space beside him. "Too late." Rippedclaw muttered. Ravenkit listened to Rippedclaw's advice and kicked Hailpaw off of him. He then scrambled to his paws and ran away as fast as he could.

Rippedclaw hissed again and disappeared, thoroughly disappointed. Hailpaw yowled in anger and bolted after him. Ravenkit saw Rootcloud walking towards the medicine cat's den. He ran as fast as he could and ducked under Rootcloud's legs and hid behind him fearfully. Rootcloud stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at the kit, amused. He didn't even notice the look of pure fear in Ravenkit's eyes.

Hailpaw jumped right over Rootcloud's back. Ravenkit dashed away, but was too slow again. The older apprentice landed squarely on Ravenkit's haunches and dug his claws in to the kit's back legs. Ravenkit rolled on to his back and lashed out at Hailpaw before dashing away again.

He ran around the medicine cat's den and quickly out of the camp, with Hailpaw trailing behind him. Ravenkit looked back and was not surprised to see Hailpaw catching up quickly.

He saw a tall tree with a hollowed out trunk and dashed up it, knowing that Hailpaw was a slow climber. Dapplestar's smell overwhelmed him, and after a bit of climbing he noticed that this was a very worn out tree. _This must be the star tree from the old camp! _He realized with a jolt.

At that same moment he heard a shrill cry of fear. He looked down just in time to see the bracken under Hailpaw's feet cave in. Hailpaw was gone in an instant.

Ravenkit jumped down from the tree and walked worriedly over to the tunnel that Hailpaw had fallen in to. He looked down in to the blackness and called, "Hailpaw?"

There was a moment of silence and then he saw two shining amber eyes in the darkness. One clawed paw shot out of the tunnel, grabbed Ravenkit by the scruff of his neck, and pulled him in to the tunnel. Ravenkit's scream of terror was quickly cut off by Hailpaw's tail being shoved over his mouth.

"Shut up and look around you, kit. Do you know where we are?" Hailpaw asked.

Ravenkit pulled away and looked around. They were in a small hollow with rows of shriveled up herbs all across the walls. There were five nests scattered around on the ground that hadn't been slept in for a very long time.

"We're in the old medicine cat's den!" Ravenkit gasped and tried to escape, but Hailpaw held him in place. "We aren't supposed to be here! We could get sick!" he exclaimed.

Hailpaw hissed and responded, "Stop being such a mouse brain, this place has been clean for moons!"

Ravenkit was about to argue when he heard Lillypetal's familiar voice coming from outside. "Ravenkit! Get out of there, it's not safe!" She ordered, her voice shaking in fear.

Ravenkit bolted out of the den with Hailpaw right behind him. "I'm sorry Lillypetal. I tried to tell him that its not safe, but he wouldn't listen to me." Ravenkit gasped, offended. It was bad enough that Hailpaw was lying about him right in front of his face, but the bad part was that Lillypetal believed every word he said.

"Don't worry Hailpaw, it isn't anyone's fault. Ravenkit probably didn't know it was dangerous. Now come on, lets go back to camp." Lillypetal said.


	7. Chapter 6

**So sorry It's been so long since I've posted a chapter. Life and school and all that good stuff have been keeping me away from the computer. But I should have more time now since school is out. YAY! Okay, here's chapter six:**

**Chapter Six**

Ravenkit was walking through a seemingly endless field of grass. He could tell that he was dreaming because the sky was pitch black and yet it was still light out. He chased after a butterfly and jumped in to the air to catch it, but he missed.

The butterfly flew up higher than he could reach and Ravenkit hissed in annoyance. He looked up at the butterfly. There was a sudden flash of dark fur and then the butterfly was gone. Ravenkit gasped in awe and looked around for the cat that had caught the butterfly.

He saw a dark grey she-cat crouched on the ground, holding the butterfly in her mouth carefully.

Ravenkit quickly recognized her as the Starclan she-cat that had visited the camp a few moons ago. The Starclan cat let go of the butterfly and smiled at Ravenkit. The butterfly dropped on the ground limply for a moment and then fluttered away.

"Hello Ravenkit. Do you remember me?" she asked in a friendly tone. Ravenkit smiled at her, excited to see a Starclan cat. Lillypetal always told him that Starclan cats only met with very important cats.

"Hi Silkfur, why are you here? In my dream I mean." Ravenkit asked and bounced over to her. He was glad to notice that his ears, when stretched up, were almost up to her shoulder. Last time his ears only made it to the middle of her leg.

She shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I don't know. I just felt like dropping by and saying hi. Anyway, I heard you found the forbidden medicine cat's den."

Ravenkit's face flushed in embarrassment and he nodded slowly. Had she been watching him while Hailpaw was trying to beat him up? Surprisingly, he found himself worrying about what she thought of him.

Silkfur smiled in excitement. She looked around deviously and then leaned in towards the young tom. "You know, that's where all of the Starclan cats arrive from whenever they come to the real world. The Shadowclan ones at least."

Ravenkit's eyebrows raised in surprise. _Is she supposed to be telling me this? _He thought, but didn't worry too much about it. "That's cool." he said, distracted by the butterfly that was fluttering around his head, taunting him. "Could you teach me how to catch a butterfly like you did?" he asked.

Silkfur chuckled and answered, "No, Ravenkit. Not today. You must wake up right now. Maybe next time." Ravenkit let his head sag in disappointment, but he nodded anyway and watched her disappear from his dream.

Ravenkit awoke from his dream and looked around groggily. Lillypetal walked in to the den and stopped at the entrance. "Oh, you're awake. I was just going to come and wake you up. Your apprentice ceremony is today. Dapplestar's already getting ready to announce it." Lillypetal said, trying to hide her excitement.

Ravenkit jumped out of his nest and bounded out of the nursery. "I'm gonna be an apprentice, finally!" he exclaimed to the cats outside. Hailpaw, who was already four moons in to his apprenticeship, simply scoffed at the excited kit. Shimmerpaw mimicked her brother with the same amount of exasperation. Rosepaw smiled at him encouragingly.

He liked Rosepaw, she was the only apprentice that wasn't mean to him. He could already tell that they would be spending a lot of time together. Dapplestar always encouraged the apprentices to work together, which wouldn't be very easy if he had no friends.

Ravenkit saw Dapplestar slowly amble her way up the Star-tree and he smiled happily. Lillypetal ran over to him and began licking him fiercely, smoothing down just about ever hair on his body. He wriggled away from his mother and ran up to the base of the star-tree.

Dapplestar finally reached the announcement branch and wrapped her tail around her paws. She called down to the clan, "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather under the star-tree for a clan meeting."

Ravenkit backed up a few paces so that he wasn't standing on the roots of the tree. Although he was still in the front of the group, eagerly staring up at Dapplestar. The clan slowly gathered around the tree. Most of the cats seemed to know what was going to happen, there were only a few cats that had looks of confusion in their eyes.

Dapplestar said, "We will be having a new apprentice to help feed us during the winter. Ravenkit, step forward." Ravenkit stepped forward.

"We gather together today to name a new Apprentice. From this day forward, until he has earned his Warrior name, this Apprentice will be called Ravenpaw. Diamondshine, you are ready for your first Apprentice. You will begin Ravenpaw's training. I expect you to pass on all that you have learned to him." Dapplestar said.

Diamondshine beamed with happiness as she walked through the crowd and stood in front of Ravenpaw. He touched his nose to hers excitedly and the clan began to cheer.

"Ravenpaw! Ravenpaw! Ravenpaw!" they all yelled.

_I'm an apprentice! I can finally make my father proud! _He thought as he watched the clan cheer his name. These were his cats, his family, and he was going to make every single one of them proud.


End file.
